Merchandising drawer assembly



Nov. 13, 1962 P. K. FULLER 3,063,776

MERCHANDISING DRAWER ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 19, 1960 IN VEN TOR. PAUL KF'Ul L E E United States Patent Ofiiice 3,63,776 Patented Nov. 13, 19523,063,776 MERCHANDISING DRAWER ASSEMBLY Paul K. Fuller, Rocky River,Ohio, assignor to The Fullwell Motor Products Co., Inc, Cleveland, Ohio,a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 19, 1960, Ser. No. 76,646 1 Claim. (Cl.312--336) This invention relates to a new and improved sl-idable drawerassembly and more particularly to a drawer assembly especially designedfor use in periodically dispensing merchandisable materials therefrom.

In the handling of material wherein the same is temporarily deposited ina drawer container or enclosure, for example materials such as nuts,bolts and the like, and thereafter a plurality of which is periodicallydispensed from said enclosure and the remaining supply likewisereplenished, it is desirable to have the complete drawer enclosureaccessible so that all of its interior may be readily utilized and/orthe contents therein avail-able for convenient selection. This is offurther importance when the drawer container or enclosure is providedwith a movable cover which, when disposed over the open end thereof isintended to protect the contents disposed therein, and it is thereafterrequired to remove the aforesaid drawer enclosure completely out of itsaccommodating cabinet so that said .cover may be removed sufficiently toprovide access to the complete interior thereof.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide anew and improved drawer assembly especially designed to enable periodicdispensing of materials therefrom and which includes a drawer or likecontainer disposed within a cabinet chamber or the like, said assemblyhaving means slidably supporting said drawer within said chamber andoperable therewith to enable the said container to be moved completelyinto and/or out of said chamber. I

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel andimproved drawer assembly wherein said drawer is intended to be'removablydisposed within ayabinet chamber or the like, said assembly including 5pair of nested slide members, said drawer being anchored to one of saidslide members, said slide members being slidably movable relative tosaidcabinet and to one another, effective to carry the aforesaid drawercompletely out of its accommodating chamber to thus provide access tothe complete interior of said container.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of anovel and improved drawer assembly especially designed to enableperiodic dispensing of materials therefrom and which includes a draweror like container disposed within a cabinet chamber, a pair of nestedslide members, said drawer being anchored to one of said slide members,said slide members being slidably movable relative to said cabinet andto eachother effective to carry the aforesaid drawer containercompletely out of said chamber, and means interconnecting said slidemembers and cabinet efiective to limit the relative movement between thelatter and said slide members.

Other objects and advantages of the drawer assembly of the presentinvention will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which itpertains and upon reference to the following disclosure of a preferredembodiment thereof and which is illustrated in the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view, being shown partially in section, ofa drawer assembly embodying the concepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view showing the drawer supporting meansactuatable toan extended position relative to the cabinet chamber so asto locate the drawer thereon completely out of the latter; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view takenapproximately on the plane as is indicated by the lines 33 in FIG. 1.

Briefly, the novel and improved drawer assembly of the presentinvention, merely for purposes of the instant disclosure, is hereinshown as especially designed for use in a cabinet or like housing, as isidentified in its entirety by reference character C, said cabinet beingsubstantially square prismatic in overall configuration and having anopen vertical end as is indicated at 2 to provide access to its chamber4.

Although the instant form of cabinet is provided with merely one chamber4 for accommodating a drawer as sembly, it is to be understood that saidcabinet may have several or more chambers each accommodating a drawerassembly without departing from the inventive concepts hereof as will behereinafter defined in detail.

The form of drawer or container D as is utilized with the cabinet C isof corresponding configuration being substantially box-like in itsassembly and having a lid e hingably attached thereto at its one end andwhich is in I tended to be swingable upwardly from its closed positionassembly as is identified in its entirety by the reference numeral 20,said assembly being thus intended to support the said drawer in saidcabinet and to permit the same to be slidably movable completely intoand/or out of the cabinet chamber 4.

With reference now directed particularly to FIG. 2, the instantembodiment of slide assembly 20 comprises an upper and a lower slideelement 21 and 22 respectively, disposed in a nested relation, one tothe other with the upper slide element being nested within said lowerslide element.

The lower slide element 22 is seen to include a pair of rail members 23,each of which is somewhat L-shaped in end elevation to thus define abase leg 23a and an upstanding leg 23b, said base leg being securelyfastened at the rear end thereof to one end of abrace member 25 thelatter extending transversely therebetween.

' The-upper slide element 21 is also seen to have a pair of side railmembers 28 securely attached at opposite ends thereof to a pair of endbrace members 30, the latter extending transversely thereacross to thusform a substantially parallelogram construction for said slide element21.

As before mentioned, the upper slide element 21 is nested within thelower slide element 22, the bottom edges of the side rail member 23 ofsaid upper slide element preferably resting upon the upper surface oftheunderlying base leg 23a of the side rail members 23 of said lowerslide element 22, and positioned so as to he slidably movabletherealong.

The slide elements 21 and 22 of said slide assembly as thus fardescribed are preferably fastened to each other so as to permit limitedslidable relative movement therebetween.

For this purpose, the upstanding leg 23b of each of the rail members 23of the lower slide element 22 is seen to be provided with a closed slot35 extending partially centrally longitudinally therealong, and which isintended to slidably accommodate a pair of fasteners 38 mounted on theadjacent rail members 23 of the upper slide element 21 said fastenersbeing preferably spaced longitudinally therealong, and extendingperpendicularly outwardly therefrom.

With this assembly, it is intended that the upper slide element 21 ofthe nested pair of slide elements may be slidably moved over the lowerslide. element 22 of said assembly and into a plurality of positionsthereon, said positional movement being thus limited depending upon therelative disposition of the. aforementioned fasteners and preselecteddimensions given each of the said slots 35.

The drawer or container D into which the dispensable materials are to bedeposited is preferably of such dimensions as to be Wholly accommodatedwithin the upper slide member 21, being either set in, or rigidlyattached thereto if desired, so as to be movable with the same.

The slide assembly 20 is seen to be disposed within the chamber 4 of thecabinet C, and is intended to be slidably movable therein so as tolocate the container D completely within and/ or out of said chamber. Ahandle h is mounted on the front edge of the container D to facilitatemoving the same into and out of said cabinet.

Assuming that the drawer or container D is disposed completely withinthe cabinet chamber 4, the handle it maybe pulled outwardly to initiatethe movement of the same. During the initial movement of the drawer Dthe slide assembly preferably moves as an integral unit to an extendedposition such as is shown in FIG. 1.

To accomplish this, each of the rail members 23 of said lower slideelement 22 is provided with an upstanding bracket 40 on its rearwardend, each of said brackets extending upwardly in substantial co-planarrelation to its associated side rail 23, being in addition, preferablyformed at its upper end with a laterally inwardly projecting flange 40a.

A strap member 42 is rigidly attached to the inside surface of each ofthe side walls of the cabinet C, extending preferably centrallylongitudinally therealong being formed at its front end, adjacent theopen end of the cabinet chamber 4, with a reversibly bent portion thusdefining a U-shaped stop element 42a facing toward the closed end ofsaid chamber.

The stop element 42a on each of said strap members 42 is so disposedthat as the slide assembly moves outwardly of the cabinet chamber 4during the initial slidable actuation thereof, the front vertical edgeof each upstanding plate 40, as herein identified by the referencenumeral 401), is movable into said stop element 42a and into engagementwith its closed end. When this occurs, the forward movement of the lowerslide element 22 is thus stopped, this preferably occurring when onlythe rearward portion of the slide assembly remains Within the cabinetchamber 4 as may be best seen in FIG. 2.

The aforementioned flange 40a formed on the upper edge of each of thesaid brackets 40 is disposed so as to preferably slidably engage theunder surface of the top wall of the chamber 4 to thus prevent the slideassembly and attached container D from tipping downwardly as it is movedout of the said cabinet chamber.

With the lower slide element 22 thus stopped in its forward movement,the upper slide element 21 then continues in its outward movement, thefasteners 38 carried thereon moving through the slots 35 on the railmembers 28 of said lower element to thereby locate the container Dcompletely out of the cabinet chamber 4 whereby its lid may thereafterbeswung upwardly to thus provide for access into the complete interiorof said container.

As will now be apparent, as the container D is moved to its closedposition so as to be completely within the cabinet chamber 4, only theupper slide element 21 preferably moves inwardly over the lower slideelement 22 during the initial inward movement of said container.

Thereafter, as the fasteners 38 strike the inner closed end of theaforesaid slots 35., said upper and lower slide elements 21 and 22 againmove as an integral unit into the said cabinet chamber to thus positionthe container completely Within the latter.

As best seen in FiG. 2, the bottom longitudinal edges of each of, theaforesaid slide elements 21 and 22 may be formed respectively with anoutwardly projecting guide rail 45 and a rail accommodating groove 46,each rail interfitting its adjacent groove to thus facilitate the smoothslidable actuation of said slide elements.

The aforementioned brackets 40 are each preferably formed of a flexibleor bendable material so that, if desired, they may be flexed inwardlywhile spaced from the stop elements 42a, to thus move said brackets outof position for engagement with said stop elements, where after thelower slide element 21 and supported upper slide element 22 andcontainer D may be removed from the chamber 4, said brackets moving pastand inwardly of said stop elements during this interval. It will also beapparent that said assembly may be readily insertable into said chamber4 by flexing said brackets inwardly and thus sliding the said assemblyinto said chamber.

Having described a preferred embodiment of merchandising drawerassembly, it is to be understood that said assembly is susceptible tovarious changes, combinations and arrangements of parts withoutdeparting from the inventive concepts thereof as are defined in theappended claim.

\Vhat is claimed is:

In a cabinet having a chamber formed with an open end and a containerdisposed in said chamber; means for supporting said container and topermit said container to be slida-bly movable through said open end andcompletely into and out of said chamber, comprising a slide assemblydisposed in said chamber and including a pair of nested slide members,the inner slide member of said pair having a pair of rails disposed inparallel spaced relation to each other, means for mounting saidcontainer on said rails, the outer slide member of said pair having apair of spaced rails underlying said rails on said inner slide member, aflexible bracket on the innermost end of said underlying rails of saidouter slide member, a strap member attached to the inside wall of saidcabinet adjacent its open end and having a stop element extene ing intosaid chamber, saidstop element being disposed in the path of saidbracket and positioned for abutting engagement with the latter as saidcontainer is moved outwardly to an open position exteriorly of saidchamber, a flange formed on said flexible bracket engageable with thecabinet wall defining said chamber preventing said container fromtilting downwardly as it is moved out of said cabinet, and said bracketbeing bendable toward the center of said chamber to a position spacedinwardly from said stop element, said outer slide member beingthereafter free to be slidably movable effective to move said bracketoutwardly of and pass said stop element so as to enable said slideassembly and supported container to be removed completely from saidchamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,614,507 Vogt Jan. 18, 1927 2,809,085 Fall Oct. 8, 1957 2,809,086 FallOct. 8, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 2 4 G y N 1 1. 11

